Making Germany Pay 1919- 1925
Paris
Peace Conference – 1919
- After
the surrender of Germany
on November 11, 1918, the victorious powers met in Paris
to settle accounts with Germany
and her allies
- The
main powers, known collectively as “The Big Four”, will decide the fate of
Germany:
- Lloyd
George – Britain
- President
Wilson – USA
- Premier
Clemenceau – France
- Premier
Orlando - Italy
- President
Wilson will put forward his fourteen point program to act as a basis for
the final treaties signed
- Premier
Clemenceau of France is
out to get revenge for all of the destruction caused in Northern
France
- Russia
will not be invited to the conference for three reasons:
- dropped
out of the war in 1917
- they
killed their entire royal family
- they
became a Communist country
- A different
treaty will be signed with each individual enemy country, with the Treaty of Versailles being the most
important signed with Germany
- Germany
will also sign the “Guilt Clause” accepting most of the blame fro the
prolonged war
- The
enemy powers will loose territory and their economies will be devastated
after they sign the unconditional treaties
- Wilson’s 14 points were designed to create a fair
peace treaty with each country however France
and Britain wanted to
make sure that Germany
will never be able to rise to power again
Top six points of Wilson’s
fourteen –
1. freedom
of the seas
2. reduction
of armaments – German army could not be larger than
100, 000 men
3.
Germany
must destroy their artillery, airplanes, U-boats and warships
4.
The West side of Germany
on the Rhine River will be under military occupation
for 10 – 15 years
5.
Germany
will pay a debt of 33 billion dollars
6.
A “League of Nations” will be created
to prevent war in the future